Damascus steel was a type of steel used in Middle Eastern swordmaking. Damascus steel was created from wootz steel, a steel developed in India around 300 BC, which was further refined by Middle Eastern Swordsmiths.[1]
These swords are characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and
mottling reminiscent of flowing water. Such blades were reputed to be
not only tough and resistant to shattering, but capable of being honed
to a sharp and resilient edge.[2]

The original method of producing Damascus steel is not known. Because
of differences in raw materials and manufacturing techniques, modern
attempts to duplicate the metal have not been entirely successful.
Despite this, several individuals in modern times have claimed that they
have rediscovered the methods in which the original Damascus steel was
produced.[3][4]

The reputation and history of Damascus steel has given rise to many
legends, such as the ability to cut through a rifle barrel or to cut a
hair falling across the blade,[5] but no evidence exists to support such claims. A research team in Germany published a report in 2006 revealing nanowires and carbon nanotubes in a blade forged from Damascus steel.[6] This finding was covered by National Geographic[7] and the New York Times.[8]
Although modern steel outperforms these swords, microscopic chemical
reactions in the production process may have made the blades
extraordinary for their time. Woody biomass and leaves are known to have
been used to carbonize the Wootz ingots used in Damascus steel, and
research now shows that carbon nanotubes can be derived from plant
fibers,[9]
suggesting how the nanotubes were formed in the steel. Some experts
expect to discover such nanotubes in more relics as they are analyzed
more closely.[1][7]

History

A bladesmith from Damascus, ca. 1900

Historians such as Hobson, Sinopoli, and Juleff state that the original damascus was produced from ingots of wootz steel, which originated in India and Sri Lanka[12] and later spread to Persia.[13] From the 3rd century to the 17th century, India was shipping steel ingots to the Middle East for use in Damascus steel.[14]

Loss of the technique

Production of these patterned swords gradually declined, ceasing by
around 1750, and the process was lost to metalsmiths. Several modern
theories have ventured to explain this decline, including the breakdown
of trade routes to supply the needed metals, the lack of trace
impurities in the metals, the possible loss of knowledge on the crafting
techniques through secrecy and lack of transmission, or a combination
of all the above.[3][4][15]

The original Damascus steel or wootz was imported from India to the Middle East.[3][4]
Due to the distance of trade for this steel, a sufficiently lengthy
disruption of the trade routes could have ended the production of
Damascus steel and eventually led to the loss of the technique in India.
As well, the need for key trace impurities of tungsten or vanadium
within the materials needed for production of the steel may be absent if
this material was acquired from different production regions or smelted
from ores lacking these key trace elements.[3]
The technique for controlled thermal cycling after the initial forging
at a specific temperature could also have been lost, thereby preventing
the final damask pattern in the steel from occurring.[3][4]
The discovery of carbon nanotubes
in the Damascus steel's composition supports this hypothesis, since the
precipitation of carbon nanotubes likely resulted from a specific
process that may be difficult to replicate should the production
technique or raw materials used be significantly altered.[15]

Moran: billet welding

Since the well-known technique of pattern welding
produced surface patterns similar to those found on Damascus blades,
some believe that Damascus blades were made using this technique.
Pattern-welded steel has been referred to as "Damascus steel" since 1973
when BladesmithWilliam F. Moran unveiled his "Damascus knives" at the Knifemakers' Guild Show.[16][17] This "Modern Damascus" is made from several types of steel and iron slices welded together to form a billet.[18] The patterns vary depending on how the smith works the billet.[17] The billet is drawn out and folded until the desired number of layers are formed.[17] In order to attain a Master Smith rating with the American Bladesmith Society that Moran founded, the smith must forge a damascus blade with a minimum of 300 layers.[19]

Verhoeven and Pendray: crucible

J. D. Verhoeven and A. H. Pendray published an article on their
attempts to reproduce the elemental, structural, and visual
characteristics of Damascus steel.[3] They started with a cake of steel that matched the properties of the original wootz
steel from India, which also matched a number of original Damascus
swords to which Verhoeven and Pendray had access. The wootz was in a
soft, annealed state, with a grain structure and beads of pure iron carbide which were the result of its hypereutectoid
state. Verhoeven and Pendray had already determined that the grains on
the surface of the steel were grains of iron carbide—their goal was to
reproduce the iron carbide patterns they saw in the Damascus blades from
the grains in the wootz.
Although such material could be worked at low temperatures to produce the striated Damascene pattern of intermixed ferrite and cementite
bands in a manner identical to pattern-welded Damascus steel, any heat
treatment sufficient to dissolve the carbides would permanently destroy
the pattern. However, Verhoeven and Pendray discovered that in samples
of true Damascus steel, the Damascene pattern could be recovered by
aging at a moderate temperature. They found that certain carbide forming
elements, one of which was vanadium, did not disperse until the steel
reached higher temperatures than those needed to dissolve the carbides.
Therefore, a high heat treatment could remove the visual evidence of
patterning associated with carbides but did not remove the underlying
patterning of the carbide forming elements; a subsequent
lower-temperature heat treatment, at a temperature at which the carbides
were again stable, could recover the structure by the binding of carbon
by those elements.

Anosov, Wadsworth and Sherby: bulat

In Russia, chronicles record the use of a material known as bulat steel to make highly valued weapons, including swords, knives and axes. Tsar Michael of Russia
reportedly had a bulat helmet made for him in 1621. The exact origin or
the manufacturing process of bulat is unknown, but it was likely
imported to Russia via Persia and Turkestan, and it was similar and
possibly the same as damascus steel. Pavel Petrovich Anosov made several
attempts to recreate the process in the mid-19th century. Wadsworth and
Sherby also researched [4] the reproduction of Bulat steel and published their results in 1980.

Damascus steel in gunmaking

Prior to the early 20th century, all shotgun barrels were forged by
heating narrow strips of iron and steel and shaping them around a mandrel.[23][24] This process was referred to as "laminating" or "Damascus" and these barrels were found on shotguns that sold for $12.[23][24]
These types of barrels earned a reputation for weakness and were never
meant to be used with modern smokeless powder, or any kind of moderately
powerful explosive.[24] Because of the resemblance to Damascus steel, higher-end barrels were made by Belgian and British gun makers.[23][24] These barrels are proof marked and meant to be used with light pressure loads.[23] Current gun manufacturers such as Caspian Arms make slide assemblies and small parts such as triggers and safeties for Colt M1911
pistols from powdered Swedish steel resulting in a swirling two-toned
effect; these parts are often referred to as "Stainless Damascus".[25]

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